Leila or, the Siege of Granada, Complete Read online

  CHAPTER V. LEILA.--HER NEW LOVER.--PORTRAIT OF THE FIRST INQUISITOR OF SPAIN.--THECHALICE RETURNED TO THE LIPS OF ALMAMEN.

  While thus the state of events within Granada, the course of our storytransports us back to the Christian camp. It was in one of a long lineof tents that skirted the pavilion of Isabel, and was appropriated tothe ladies attendant on the royal presence, that a young female satalone. The dusk of evening already gathered around, and only theoutline of her form and features was visible. But even that, imperfectlyseen,--the dejected attitude of the form, the drooping head, the handsclasped upon the knees,--might have sufficed to denote the melancholynature of the reverie which the maid indulged.

  "Ah," thought she, "to what danger am I exposed! If my father, ifmy lover dreamed of the persecution to which their poor Leila isabandoned!"

  A few tears, large and bitter, broke from her eyes, and stole unheededdown her cheek. At that moment, the deep and musical chime of a bell washeard summoning the chiefs of the army to prayer; for Ferdinand investedall his worldly schemes with a religious covering, and to his politicwar he sought to give the imposing character of a sacred crusade.

  "That sound," thought she, sinking on her knees, "summons the Nazarenesto the presence of their God. It reminds me, a captive by the waters ofBabylon, that God is ever with the friendless. Oh! succour and defendme, Thou who didst look of old upon Ruth standing amidst the corn, anddidst watch over Thy chosen people in the hungry wilderness, and in thestranger's land."

  Wrapt in her mute and passionate devotions, Leila remained long inher touching posture. The bell had ceased; all without was hushed andstill--when the drapery, stretched across the opening of the tent, waslifted, and a young Spaniard, cloaked, from head to foot, in a longmantle, stood within the space. He gazed in silence, upon the kneelingmaiden; nor was it until she rose that he made his presence audible.

  "Ah, fairest!" said he, then, as he attempted to take her hand, "thouwilt not answer my letters--see me, then, at thy feet. It is thou whoteachest me to kneel."

  "You, prince." said Leila, agitated, and in great and evident fear. "Whyharass and insult me thus? Am I not sacred as a hostage and a charge?and are name, honour, peace, and all that woman is taught to hold mostdear, to be thus robbed from me under the pretext of a love dishonouringto thee and an insult to myself?"

  "Sweet one," answered Don Juan, with a slight laugh, "thou hast learned,within yonder walls, a creed of morals little known to Moorish maidens,if fame belies them not. Suffer me to teach thee easier morality andsounder logic. It is no dishonour to a Christian prince to adore beautylike thine; it is no insult to a maiden hostage if the Infant of Spainproffer her the homage of his heart. But we waste time. Spies, andenvious tongues, and vigilant eyes, are around us; and it is not oftenthat I can baffle them as I have done now. Fairest, hear me!" and thistime he succeeded in seizing the hand which vainly struggled againsthis clasp. "Nay, why so coy? what can female heart desire that my lovecannot shower upon thine? Speak but the word, enchanting maiden, and Iwill bear thee from these scenes unseemly to thy gentle eyes. Amidstthe pavilions of princes shalt thou repose; and, amidst gardens of theorange and the rose, shalt thou listen to the vows of thine adorer.Surely, in these arms thou wilt not pine for a barbarous home and afated city. And if thy pride, sweet maiden, deafen thee to the voice ofnature, learn that the haughtiest dames of Spain would bend, in enviouscourt, to the beloved of their future king. This night--listen to me--Isay, listen--this night I will bear thee hence! Be but mine, and nomatter, whether heretic or infidel, or whatever the priests style thee,neither Church nor king shall tear thee from the bosom of thy lover."

  "It is well spoken, son of the most Christian monarch!" said a deepvoice; and the Dominican, Tomas de Torquemada, stood before the prince.

  Juan, as if struck by a thunderbolt, released his hold, and, staggeringback a few paces, seemed to cower, abashed and humbled, before the eyeof the priest, as it glared upon him through the gathering darkness.

  "Prince," said the friar, after a pause, "not to thee will our holyChurch attribute this crime; thy pious heart hath been betrayed bysorcery. Retire!"

  "Father," said the prince,--in a tone into which, despite his awe ofthat terrible man, THE FIRST GRAND INQUISITOR OF SPAIN, his libertinespirit involuntarily forced itself, in a half latent raillery,--"sorceryof eyes like those bewitched the wise son of a more pious sire than evenFerdinand of Arragon."

  "He blasphemes!" muttered the monk. "Prince, beware! you know not whatyou do."

  The prince lingered, and then, as if aware that he must yield, gatheredhis cloak round him, and left the tent without reply.

  Pale and trembling,--with fears no less felt, perhaps, though more vagueand perplexed, than those from which she had just been delivered,--Leilastood before the monk.

  "Be seated, daughter of the faithless," said Torquemada, "we wouldconverse with thee: and, as thou valuest--I say not thy soul, for, alas!of that precious treasure thou art not conscious--but mark me, woman! asthou prizest the safety of those delicate limbs, and that wanton beauty,answer truly what I shall ask thee. The man who brought thee hither--ishe, in truth, thy father?"

  "Alas!" answered Leila, almost fainting with terror at this rude andmenacing address, "he is, in truth, mine only parent."

  "And his faith--his religion?"

  "I have never beheld him pray."

  "Hem! he never prays--a noticeable fact. But of what sect, what creed,does he profess himself?"

  "I cannot answer thee."

  "Nay, there be means that may wring from thee an answer. Maiden, benot so stubborn; speak! thinkest thou he serves the temple of theMohammedan?"

  "No! oh, no!" answered poor Leila, eagerly, deeming that her reply, inthis, at least, would be acceptable. "He disowns, he scorns, he abhors,the Moorish faith,--even," she added, "with too fierce a zeal."

  "Thou dost not share that zeal, then? Well, worships he in secret afterthe Christian rites?"

  Leila hung her head and answered not.

  "I understand thy silence. And in what belief, maiden, wert thou rearedbeneath his roof?"

  "I know not what it is called among men," answered Leila, with firmness,"but it is the faith of the ONE GOD, who protects His chosen, and shallavenge their wrongs--the God who made earth and heaven; and who, in anidolatrous and benighted world, transmitted the knowledge of Himselfand His holy laws, from age to age, through the channel of one solitarypeople, in the plains of Palestine, and by the waters of the Hebron."

  "And in that faith thou wert trained, maiden, by thy father?" said theDominican, calmly. "I am satisfied. Rest here, in peace: we may meetagain, soon."

  The last words were spoken with a soft and tranquil smile--a smile inwhich glazing eyes and agonising hearts had often beheld the ghastlyomen of the torture and the stake.

  On quitting the unfortunate Leila, the monk took his way towards theneighbouring tent of Ferdinand. But, ere he reached it, a new thoughtseemed to strike the holy man; he altered the direction of his steps,and gained one of those little shrines common in Catholic countries, andwhich had been hastily built of wood, in the centre of a small copse,and by the side of a brawling rivulet, towards the back of the king'spavilion. But one solitary sentry, at the entrance of the copse, guardedthe consecrated place; and its exceeding loneliness and quiet were agrateful contrast to the animated world of the surrounding camp. Themonk entered the shrine, and fell down on his knees before an image ofthe Virgin, rudely sculptured, indeed, but richly decorated.

  "Ah, Holy Mother!" groaned this singular man, "support me in the trialto which I am appointed. Thou knowest that the glory of thy blessed Sonis the sole object for which I live, and move, and have my being; but attimes, alas! the spirit is infected with the weakness of the flesh. Orapro nobis, O Mother of mercy! Verily, oftentimes my heart sinks withinme when it is mine to vindicate the honour of thy holy cause against theyoung and the tender, the aged and the decrepit. But what are beautyand youth, grey hairs and trembling
knees, in the eye of the Creator?Miserable worms are we all; nor is there anything acceptable in theDivine sight but the hearts of the faithful. Youth without faith, agewithout belief, purity without grace, virtue without holiness, are onlymore hideous by their seeming beauty--whited sepulchres, glitteringrottenness. I know this--I know it; but the human man is strong withinme. Strengthen me, that I pluck it out; so that, by diligent andconstant struggle with the feeble Adam, thy servant may be reduced intoa mere machine, to punish the godless and advance the Church."

  Here sobs and tears choked the speech of the Dominican; he grovelled inthe dust, he tore his hair, he howled aloud: the agony was fierceupon him. At length, he drew from his robe a whip, composed of severalthongs, studded with small and sharp nails; and, stripping his gown,and the shirt of hair worn underneath, over his shoulders, applied thescourge to the naked flesh with a fury that soon covered the green swardwith the thick and clotted blood. The exhaustion which followed thisterrible penance seemed to restore the senses of the stern fanatic. Asmile broke over the features, that bodily pain only released from theanguished expression of mental and visionary struggles; and, when herose, and drew the hair-cloth shirt over the lacerated and quiveringflesh, he said--"Now hast thou deigned to comfort and visit me, Opitying Mother; and, even as by these austerities against this miserablebody, is the spirit relieved and soothed, so dost thou typify andbetoken that men's bodies are not to be spared by those who seek to savesouls and bring the nations of the earth into thy fold."

  With that thought the countenance of Torquemada reassumed its wontedrigid and passionless composure; and, replacing the scourge, yet clottedwith blood, in his bosom, he pursued his way to the royal tent.

  He found Ferdinand poring over the accounts of the vast expenses of hismilitary preparations, which he had just received from his treasurer;and the brow of the thrifty, though ostentatious monarch, was greatlyovercast by the examination.

  "By the Bulls of Guisando!" said the king, gravely, "I purchase thesalvation of my army in this holy war at a marvellous heavy price; andif the infidels hold out much longer, we shalt have to pawn our verypatrimony of Arragon."

  "Son," answered the Dominican, "to purposes like thine fear not thatProvidence itself will supply the worldly means. But why doubtest thou?are not the means within thy reach? It is just that thou alone shouldstnot support the wars by which Christendom is glorified. Are there notothers?"

  "I know what thou wouldst say, father," interrupted the king,quickly--"thou wouldst observe that my brother monarchs should assist mewith arms and treasure. Most just. But they are avaricious and envious,Tomas; and Mammon hath corrupted them."

  "Nay, not to kings pointed my thought."

  "Well, then," resumed the king, impatiently, "thou wouldst imply thatmine own knights and nobles should yield up their coffers, and mortgagetheir possessions. And so they ought; but they murmur already at whatthey have yielded to our necessities."

  "And in truth," rejoined the friar, "these noble warriors should notbe shorn of a splendour that well becomes the valiant champions of theChurch. Nay, listen to me, son, and I may suggest a means whereby, notthe friends, but enemies, of the Catholic faith shall contribute to thedown fall of the Paynim. In thy dominions, especially those newly won,throughout Andalusia, in the kingdom of Cordova, are men of enormouswealth; the very caverns of the earth are sown with the impious treasurethey have plundered from Christian hands, and consume in the furtheranceof their iniquity. Sire, I speak of the race that crucified the Lord."

  "The Jews--ay, but the excuse--"

  "Is before thee. This traitor, with whom thou boldest intercourse, whovowed to thee to render up Granada, and who was found the very nextmorning, fighting with the Moors, with the blood of a Spanish martyr redupon his hands, did he not confess that his fathers were of that hatefulrace? did he not bargain with thee to elevate his brethren to the rankof Christians? and has he not left with thee, upon false pretences, aharlot of his faith, who, by sorcery and the help of the Evil One, hathseduced into frantic passion the heart of the heir of the most Christianking?"

  "Ha! thus does that libertine boy ever scandalise us!" said the king,bitterly.

  "Well," pursued the Dominican, not heeding the interruption, "have younot here excuse enough to wring from the whole race the purchase oftheir existence? Note the glaring proof of this conspiracy of hell. Theoutcasts of the earth employed this crafty agent to contract withthee for power; and, to consummate their guilty designs, the arts thatseduced Solomon are employed against thy son. The beauty of the strangewoman captivates his senses; so that, through the future sovereignof Spain the counsels of Jewish craft may establish the dominationof Jewish ambition. How knowest thou," he added as he observed thatFerdinand listened to him with earnest attention--"how knowest thou butwhat the next step might have been thy secret assassination, so that thevictim of witchcraft, the minion of the Jewess, might reign in the steadof the mighty and unconquerable Ferdinand?"

  "Go on, father," said the king, thoughtfully; "I see, at least, enoughto justify an impost upon these servitors of Mammon."

  "But, though common sense suggests to us," continued Torquemada, "thatthis disguised Israelite could not have acted on so vast a designwithout the instigation of his brethren, not only in Granada, butthroughout all Andalusia,--would it not be right to obtain from him hisconfession, and that of the maiden, within the camp, so that we may havebroad and undeniable evidence, whereon to act, and to still all cavil,that may come not only from the godless, but even from the too tenderscruples of the righteous? Even the queen--whom the saints everguard!--hath ever too soft a heart for these infidels; and--"

  "Right!" cried the king, again breaking upon Torquemada; "Isabel, thequeen of Castile, must be satisfied of the justice of all our actions."

  "And, should it be proved that thy throne or life were endangered, andthat magic was exercised to entrap her royal son into a passion for aJewish maiden, which the Church holds a crime worthy of excommunicationitself, surely, instead of counteracting, she would assist our schemes."

  "Holy friend," said Ferdinand, with energy, "ever a comforter, both forthis world and the next, to thee, and to the new powers intrusted tothee, we commit this charge; see to it at once; time presses--Granada isobstinate--the treasury waxes low."

  "Son, thou hast said enough," replied the Dominican, closing his eyes,and muttering a short thanksgiving. "Now then to my task."

  "Yet stay," said the king, with an altered visage; "follow me to myoratory within: my heart is heavy, and I would fain seek the solace ofthe confessional."

  The monk obeyed: and while Ferdinand, whose wonderful abilities weremingled with the weakest superstition, who persecuted from policy, yetbelieved, in his own heart, that he punished but from piety,--confessedwith penitent tears the grave offences of aves forgotten, andbeads untold; and while the Dominican admonished, rebuked, orsoothed,--neither prince nor monk ever dreamt that there was an error toconfess in, or a penance to be adjudged to, the cruelty that tortured afellow-being, or the avarice that sought pretences for the extortion ofa whole people.